Index-cabinet.



No. 68l,409. I Patented Aug. 27, mm. a. w. DIGKENSUN.

INDEX CABINET.

(Application filed May 26, 1901.) (lo Mdal.

I? wage/23am, 1 0mm lay UNITED STATES RICHARDSON WILLIAM DIOKENSON,

PATENT OFFICE.

OF SIOUX FALLS,'S( )UTH DAKOTA.

INDEX-CABINET. i-

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681 ,409, dated August 27, 1901.

Application filed May 25, 1901.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, RICHARDSON WILLIAM DICKENSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sioux Falls, in the county of Minnehaha and State of South Dakota, have invented a new and useful Index-Cabinet, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to index-cabinets; and the object of the same is to provide simple and efiective means whereby billing-forms are conveniently retained and on which the names of purchasers are entered in alphabetical order, together with the entries of their purchases, at the time of making sale, and whereby the bill of any purchaser may be instantly referred to for making subsequent charges or for summing up and rendering statement of account.

The invention consists in the construction and arrangement of the several parts, which will be more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a cabinet embodying the features of the invention and shown open. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section of the cabinet in closed condition. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of a combined, index and holder.

Similar numerals of reference are employed to indicate corresponding parts in the several views.

The numeral 1 designates a cabinet of anyv suitable form and material, the dimensions of the same being variable at will and in accordance with the number of carriers mounted in the device, and which will be more fully hereinafter explained. The front side of the cabinet is open its full length and is closed by a door 2, the upper portion of one side edge 3 at the front having letters 4 alphabetically arranged thereon, with the letter A at the bottom. In rear of the said lettered edge the adjacent end of the cabinet is formed with a vertical slot 5 of a length equal to the extent of the letters 4. In the lower portion of the cabinet are supports 6, interiorly disposed close to the ends of the latter, and extending horizontally from one to the other of the said supports are stationary pivot-rods 7, on which are mounted the rolled ends 8 of a plurality of carriers 9, the number of said carriers being equal to the number of the letters 4 on the Serial No. 61,906. (No model.)

edge 3. The supports 6 are arranged at an upward incline and the carriers from the front to the rear one gradually increase in length, and by this means the upper end of each carrier projects above and is clear of the one in front. The carriers are suitably constructed to hold a number of bills or other sheets, those on each carrier being under the names of persons or purchasers that may have a running account with a dealer or merchant beginning with the same letter, and the carriers will also be positioned in the group in accordance with the position of the letters on the edge 3 to which they correspondthat is, the carrier corresponding to the letter D, for instance, will be the fourth one from the front. By means which will be hereinafter set forth the carriers can be readily let down through the open front side of the cabinet to bring the successive bills under names having different beginning-letters down into position for additions to the matter thereon or for inspection as to amount of the same in renderinga statement or the like. When a part of the carriers are let down, as shown by Fig. 1, the remaining portion will be held up in the cabinet, and any one of the carriers may be quickly exposed for inspection of the matter held thereby.

In operative conjunction with the carriers a combined index and holder. 10 is employed, preferably constructed of suitable bendable metal and gravitatingly mounted in the slot 5. This combined index and holder comprises a member 11, which is intersected by right-angular guide and index strips 12 and 13, which are spaced apart from each other, the portion of the said member between the points of intersection of the said strips therewith being held in the said slot for loose sliding movement in the latter, the said strips inseparably retaining the combined device in the slot 5. The outer end of the member 11 provides a grip 14;, and the inner extremity 15 is reduced to form a holder which engages the upper ends of the carriers, the holder when in its lowest position acting to retain all the carriers retained in the cabinet when in engagement with the upper end of the front one and when raised to clear the carriers in front of the one corresponding to the letter desired likewise operates to hold the in exposed position.

carriers remaining in the cabinet in elevated position. The guide-strip 12 is located against the inner side of the end of the cabinet, having the slot 5 therein to serve to steady the combined device in its movement, and the front extremity of the index-strip 13 is bent at a right angle to provide an index-finger 16, which extends across the edge 3 and projects inthe same direction 'as the holder 15 and approximately parallel with the latter and in the same plane, so that when the finger is moved to the position of the desired letter corresponding to the beginning-letter on the bill to be brought down for inspection the holder 15 will correspondingly move over the upper ends of the carriers to have the proper one fall on top of the liberated ones When it is desired to close the carriers into the cabinet after use, those that have been permitted to fall are raised, the combined index and holder being first raised to clear all the carriers and the latter pressed back to let the said combined device gravitatingly fall to its normal position, which it will do in view of the fact that it works very easily in the slot 5 and is heavy enough to accomplish this operation.

The improved device as an entirety will be found very useful and convenient, and its use will save considerable time in examining and arranging or adding to accounts which can be kept-separate and avoid running the pages of a blotter or other book, to find the state of the same or other information desired.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is-- 1. In a device of the class set forth, the combination of a cabinet open at the front and having a door to close the same, the upper portion of one end of the cabinet near the one front edge being formed with a vertical slot, and said edge having letters thereon adjacent to said slot, a series of carriers movably attached at their lower ends Within the lower portion of the cabinet-,the upper end of each carrier from the one in front being projected vertically a greater distance than the one in advance, and a combined index and holder slidingly mounted in the said slot.

2. In a device of the class set forth, the combination of a cabinet open at one side, the upper portion of the one edge of the latter side having letters thereon, a combined index and holder slidingly mounted in one end of the cabinet and having a portion movable over the said letters, and a plurality of carriers movably connected at their lower ends within the lower portion of the cabinet and gradually increasing in length from the front toward the rear one.

3. In a device of the class set forth, the combination of a cabinet open at one side, a plurality of carriers pivotally mounted therein to move outward and inward through the said open side, the one edge portion of the latter side having a series of letters thereon, the upper end of each carrier from the one in front being projected vertically a greater distance than the one in advance, anda combined index and holder movably mounted in the end of the cabinet adjacent to the said letters.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

RICHARDSON WILLIAM DICKENSON.

Witnesses:

L. A. KELLEY, H. B. BENSON. 

